Bambi Part 12: Bedtime Story

Dear ones,

Our adventures continue tonight with part twelve of my reading of Bambi.

This is a reading of the original story of Bambi, written by Felix Salten in 1923. This is the story that was eventually adapted for the movie of the same name.

This is part twelve of a thirteen-part series. You can find all the recordings of Bambi on my profile, in the playlist titled 'Bambi'.

Enjoy dear ones.

Transcript

Hello dear ones and welcome to today's reading of Bambi part 12 Chapter 22 One morning something very bad happened to Bambi.

The feeble grey of dawn was creeping its way through the forest.

A milky white mist rose from the meadow,

And the quiet that breathes the change in the time of day stretched itself out everywhere.

The crows were still not awake,

Nor the magpies,

And even the jay was asleep.

Bambi had come across Feline in the night.

She looked sadly at him,

And she was very shy.

I'm by myself so much,

Bambi,

She replied.

I'm by myself too,

Bambi replied.

Feline seemed disheartened and asked,

Why don't you stay with me anymore,

Bambi?

And it pained Bambi to see that Feline,

Once so happy,

Once so bold,

Had become earnest and downtrodden.

I have to be alone,

He replied.

He had wanted to say it in a soothing way,

But it sounded hard.

Feline looked at him and quietly asked,

Do you still love me,

Bambi?

Bambi did not hesitate and answered,

I don't know.

She went calmly away and left him alone.

There he stood under the great oak tree at the edge of the meadow,

Looked carefully out there to see all that was safe,

And drank in the morning wind.

Every time there had been a storm,

The air was moist and refreshing.

It smelt of the earth,

Of dew and grass and wet wood.

Bambi breathed deep.

He suddenly felt free in a way he had not felt for a long time.

He felt happy as he stepped out onto the misty meadow.

Then came a clap of thunder.

Bambi felt as if something had shoved him and it made him stagger.

In a panic,

He leapt back into the woods and continued running.

He did not understand what had happened.

He was quite unable to collect his thoughts,

But just kept on running.

His terror kept a tight grip on his heart and took his breath away as he blindly rushed forward.

But then,

Suddenly,

A piercing pain ran through him and he did not think he would be able to endure it.

He felt how it ran hotly over his left thigh,

A narrow burning thread starting from the place where he had first felt the pain.

It forced him to stop running and forced him to walk more slowly.

Then his shoulders and legs seemed to go lame and he collapsed to the ground.

Get up,

Bambi,

Get up!

The elder stood beside him and pushed him gently on his shoulder.

Bambi wanted to retort,

But I can't.

But the elder said again,

Get up,

Get up!

And there was such urgency in his voice and such tenderness that Bambi said nothing.

Even the pain he felt in every part of his body abated for a moment.

Now the elder spoke hurriedly and in fear.

Get up,

You've got to get away from here,

Son.

As soon as he heard the word son,

Bambi hurried onto his feet.

Right then,

Said the elder.

He took a deep breath and continued to urge Bambi on.

Now,

Come with me.

Just stay with me all the time.

The elder hurried forward and Bambi followed him,

Even though he was yearning to drop to the ground,

To lay still and rest.

The elder seemed able to see this and spoke to Bambi without pause.

Whatever the pain is you've now got,

Just bear it,

Bambi.

You can't even think about lying down.

Never think of that at all,

As that by itself will make you tired.

Now,

You've got to save yourself.

Do you understand,

Bambi?

Save yourself.

Otherwise,

You are lost.

Just bear in mind that he's coming after you.

Do you understand,

Bambi?

He won't show any mercy.

He will just kill you.

Now,

Come with me.

It'll soon be gone.

Bambi no longer even had the strength to think of anything.

The pain surged up in every step he took,

Robbed him of his breath and of his senses,

And the line of heat that burned down into his shoulder brought a deep,

Delirious excitement into his heart.

The elder went round in a broad circle.

It took a long time.

Through his veil of pain and weakness,

Bambi was astonished to see that they were suddenly beside the great oak once more.

The elder stopped and smelt the ground.

Here,

He whispered.

Here.

He's here.

And here,

Too.

And the dog.

Come with me,

Bambi.

Faster.

And they ran on.

The elder suddenly stopped.

Can you see?

This is where you were lying on the ground.

Bambi saw where the grass had been pressed down and saw a broad pool of his own blood soaking down into the ground.

The elder smelt the place carefully.

They've already been here,

Him and the dog.

Now,

Come with me,

Bambi.

He walked slowly on,

Continually stopping to smell the ground.

Bambi noticed the drops of red on the leaves of the bushes and on the grass.

We've already been past here,

He thought,

Although he was not able to speak it out loud.

Good,

Said the elder.

Now,

We've got almost behind them.

He went for a while in the same direction.

Then he turned suddenly to one side and set off in a new circle.

Bambi staggered on behind him.

They arrived at the big oak tree once again,

Though this time from the other direction.

They arrived once again at the place where Bambi had fallen.

And then,

Once again,

The elder took a new direction.

Eat some of this,

He ordered.

He had stopped,

Pushed the grass to one side and pointed to some tiny leaves,

Short and dark green,

Fat and fluffy,

That were sprouting out of the bare ground.

Bambi did as he was told.

The leaves were horribly bitter and had a repulsive smell.

After a while,

The elder asked,

How are you feeling now?

I'm feeling better,

Bambi promptly answered.

All of a sudden,

He was able to speak again.

He could think more clearly and he felt less tired.

After another pause,

The elder ordered him,

You go ahead now.

And after he had been walking behind,

Bambi for some time,

He said,

At last,

They stopped.

Your blood has stopped running out from your wound,

So it won't show where you are anymore.

He and his dog won't be able to find where to go to take your life,

Bambi.

The elder looked very tired now,

But there was cheerfulness in his voice.

Come on then,

He continued.

Now you need to have a rest.

They arrived at the broad gully that Bambi had never been across.

The elder climbed down into it.

Bambi tried to follow,

But it took him a lot of effort to climb up the steep slope on the other side.

The fierce pain he felt began once more.

He fell over,

Pulled himself back up,

Fell over again,

And began to gasp for breath.

I can't help you here,

Said the elder.

You've got to get up here yourself.

And Bambi did get up to the top.

He began once more to feel the hot band of pain that shot down his shoulder,

And felt,

For a second time,

That he was losing his strength.

You're bleeding again,

Said the elder.

That's what I expected.

It's not too much,

Though.

And it doesn't matter anymore.

They made their way very slowly through a grove of beech trees,

As high as the sky.

The ground was soft and smooth.

It did not take too much effort to go through it.

Bambi yearned to just lay himself down,

To stretch himself out and not move a finger.

He just could not go any further.

His head hurt.

There was a buzzing in his ears.

His nerves were quivering,

And fever began to shake him.

His eyes went dim.

There was nothing inside of him except the yearning for rest,

And a vague astonishment at how his life had suddenly been interrupted and altered.

At how he had once used to go through the forest in good health and without injury.

Just that morning,

Just an hour earlier,

It seemed to him now like the happiness of a distant time that had long since vanished.

They passed through a low thicket of oaks and dogwood.

The fallen trunk of a beech tree lay across their path,

Deeply embedded in the bushes.

It was very big,

And they could see no way of getting past it.

All right,

Said the elder,

You can lie down here.

Bambi sank down and did not try to move anymore.

He saw that the hole in the ground under the fallen beech trunk was deeper than it seemed,

Creating a small chamber.

The bushes at the edge of it closed over him as he entered,

So that nobody could see in.

Once he was down there,

It felt as if he had disappeared.

You'll be safe here,

Said the elder.

Stay here,

Bambi,

And don't go anywhere.

Days went by.

Bambi lay in the warm earth,

The bark of the fallen tree slowly rotting above him.

It listened to his pain as it grew inside his body,

Became stronger and then abated,

Became weaker and went down,

Steadily softer and softer.

Sometimes,

He would struggle outside,

Where he would stand,

Weak and unsteady,

On his tired and unreliable legs,

And take a few steps to look for food.

He began to eat herbs that he had never before noticed.

Now,

They had suddenly begun to offer themselves to him.

They called to him with their scent that had a strange and tempting sharpness.

The elder was nearby at all times.

At first,

He was at Bambi's side day and night.

Then there were times when he left him alone for short periods,

Especially when he saw that Bambi was lost in his thoughts.

But there was no time when he was not close by.

One day,

There had been storm and thunder and lightning.

The sky had been swept clean,

And that evening,

The sun,

As it went down,

Shone over a sky that was blue.

The blackbirds sang out loudly from the treetops.

The finches flapped their wings.

The tits whispered in the undergrowth.

In the grass and under the bushes close to the ground,

The metallic bursts of the pheasants' cry could be heard.

The woodpecker laughed in loud celebrations,

And the pigeons cooed from the yearning for love that was inside of them.

Bambi stepped out from his underground chamber.

Life was good.

The elder was standing there as if he had been waiting for him,

And they wandered off slowly together.

But Bambi never went back across that gully.

He never went back to see the others.

Chapter 23 One night,

When the autumn leaves were falling and whispering through the hole of the forest,

The tawny owl gave his shrill cry through the treetops.

Then he waited.

But Bambi had already seen him in the distance through the sparse foliage,

And now he kept still.

The owl flew closer and gave his shrill cry even louder.

Then he waited.

But this time,

Too,

Bambi said nothing.

The owl could not hold back any longer.

Aren't you startled,

Then?

He asked.

Oh yes,

A little bit,

Bambi answered.

The owl grumbled.

Only a little bit?

You always used to be terribly shocked.

It was always such a pleasure to see how shocked you were.

What's happened then?

What's happened that means now you're only a little bit shocked?

The owl had grown old,

And that had made him even more vain and even more sensitive.

He had been.

Bambi wanted to answer.

I was never startled before,

But I just said I was because I knew you liked it.

But he decided he would rather keep this information to himself.

He felt sorry for the good old owl as he sat there being cross.

He did his best to calm him down.

Maybe it's because I was just thinking about you,

Said Bambi.

What?

You were thinking about me?

The owl became cheerful again.

Yes,

Answered Bambi.

Just when you began to screech.

Otherwise,

Of course,

I would have been just as startled as ever.

Really,

The owl purred.

Bambi could not resist.

What harm could there be in it?

Let the little old boy have some pleasure.

Really,

He confirmed.

The owl puffed up his feathers,

Turned himself into a soft brown and light gray fluffy ball,

And was very pleased.

That's very nice of you to have been thinking about me.

Very nice indeed.

It's such a long time since we saw each other.

A very,

Very long time,

Said Bambi.

Maybe it's that you don't go along the same old paths anymore,

Inquired the owl.

No,

I don't go along the same old paths anymore,

Bambi spoke slowly.

I've been seeing a lot more of the world too lately,

Remarked the owl,

Puffing his chest out.

He did not tell Bambi that he had been driven out of the old territory by a young and restless lad.

You can't always stay in the same spot,

He added.

Then he waited for Bambi's reply.

But Bambi had gone.

By now,

He had learned the art of disappearing in silence,

Almost as well as the elder.

The owl was dismayed.

Shameless,

He grumbled.

He shook himself,

Buried his beak into his plumage,

And philosophized to himself.

You should never think that you can make friends with these posh types.

They might seem ever so likable,

But one day they'll shamelessly,

And then you sit there looking stupid,

Just like I am now.

A storm blew through the woods for many days,

Tearing the last of the leaves from the twigs.

The trees now stood there naked.

In the gray of morning twilight,

Bambi was making his way home in order to sleep with the elder in their chamber.

A thin voice called to him,

Two times,

Three times in quick succession.

He stayed where he was.

Then the squirrel swooped down from the tree like lightning and sat on the ground in front of him.

It really is you then,

He piped with respectful astonishment.

I recognized you straight away when you passed by me.

I didn't really want to believe it.

How come you are here,

Squirrel?

Bambi asked.

The cheerful little face in front of him took on a worried expression.

The oak tree is gone,

The squirrel said.

My lovely old oak tree.

Do you remember it,

Bambi?

He cut it down.

Bambi lowered his head in silence.

It really did hurt his soul to hear about the wonderful ancient tree.

It all happened so quickly,

The squirrel told him.

All of us who lived on the oak tree,

We all ran away,

And we could only watch as he bit through it with an enormous blinking tooth.

The tree screamed out loud.

He just kept on screaming and screaming,

And the tooth screamed too.

It was horrible to hear,

Bambi.

Then that poor,

Lovely tree fell over,

Out onto the meadow.

It made all of us cry.

Bambi was silent.

Yes,

Said the squirrel with a sigh,

He can do anything.

He looked at Bambi with eyes wide open and pricked up his ears,

But Bambi was silent.

We've all got nowhere to live now,

The squirrel continued.

I don't even have any idea of where the others have got to.

I came over here,

But it'll take me ages to find another tree like that.

The old oak tree,

Muttered Bambi to himself.

I've known it since I was a child.

Oh,

It's so good to see that it's really you,

The squirrel said.

We all thought you must have died a long time ago,

But there were some who said you were still alive.

Some said that someone or another had seen you,

But we couldn't find out anything definite,

So we just thought it was an empty rumour.

The squirrel looked at him searchingly,

Wanting an explanation for his absence.

You could see that the squirrel was very keen to know what had happened.

Bambi was silent.

But he,

Too,

Felt a slight anxious curiosity.

He wanted to ask about Feline,

About Aunt Ina,

About Rono and Carus,

About everyone he had known as a child,

But he was silent.

The squirrel continued to sit in front of Bambi and examined him.

My,

Look at that crown,

He exclaimed in admiration.

What a crown you've got.

Apart from the old prince,

No one has a crown like that.

No one anywhere in the forest.

Earlier,

Bambi would have felt very pleased and flattered by the observation.

Now,

He just said wearily,

Yes,

I suppose so.

The squirrel nodded his head vigorously.

It really is,

Bambi,

Really.

And you're beginning to go grey.

And Bambi walked away.

The squirrel saw that the discussion was at an end and swung himself up into the branches.

Bye then.

Look after yourself.

I enjoyed seeing you again.

If I see your old friends,

I'll tell them you're still alive.

They'll all be glad to hear it.

Bambi heard this and once again felt those slight stirrings in his heart,

But said nothing.

You have to stay alone,

The elder had taught him when Bambi was still a child.

And the elder had shown him many things and told him many secrets and had continued doing so up until the present day.

But of all the things he had been taught,

This was the most important.

You have to stay alone.

If you're going to preserve your life,

If you want to understand existence,

If you want to become wise,

You have to stay alone.

But,

Bambi had asked one time,

But what about the two of us?

We're always together.

Nowadays,

We soon won't be,

The elder had replied.

That had only been a few weeks earlier.

Now,

It again occurred to Bambi,

And it occurred to him very suddenly,

That the very first thing the elder had said to him had been that he had to stay alone.

That had been when Bambi was still a child and was calling for his mother.

Then,

The elder had come up to him and asked,

Are you not able to be alone,

Bambi?

Bambi walked on.